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ANTHRO

ANTHRO 130A:Interpreting Space and Place: An Introduction to Mapmaking

How mapmaking, geographical information systems (GIS), and spatial tools can be applied in social research. Qualitative and quantitative approaches in the use of geospatial information. Methodologies and case examples.

ANTHRO 130B:Introduction to GIS in Anthropology (ANTHRO 230B)

How GIS and spatial tools can be applied in social research. Case studies and student projects address questions of social and cultural relevance using real data sets, including the collection of geospatial data and building of spatial evidence. Analytical approaches and how they can shape a social and cultural interpretation of space and place.

This multidisciplinary course combines different approaches to how GIS and spatial tools can be applied in social science research. We take a collaborative, project oriented approach to bring together technical expertise and substantive applications from several social science disciplines. The course aims to integrate tools, methods, and current debates in social science research and will enable students to engage in critical spatial research and a multidisciplinary dialogue around geographic space.

ANTHRO 131:Genes and Identity (AFRICAAM 131, CSRE 131)

In recent decades genes have increasingly become endowed with the cultural power to explain many aspects of human life: physical traits, diseases, behaviors, ancestral histories, and identity. In this course we will explore a deepening societal intrigue with genetic accounts of personal identity and political meaning. Students will engage with varied interdisciplinary sources that range from legal cases to scientific articles, medical ethics guidelines, films, and ethnographies. We will explore several case studies where the use of DNA markers (either as proof of heritage or disease risk) has spawned cultural movements that are biosocial in nature. nnExamples include legal and political analyses of African ancestry testing as ¿evidence¿ in slavery reparations cases, debates on whether Black Freedman should be allowed into the Cherokee and Seminole Nations, considerations on whether people with genetic links to Jewish groups should have a right of return to Israel, close readings of The
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In recent decades genes have increasingly become endowed with the cultural power to explain many aspects of human life: physical traits, diseases, behaviors, ancestral histories, and identity. In this course we will explore a deepening societal intrigue with genetic accounts of personal identity and political meaning. Students will engage with varied interdisciplinary sources that range from legal cases to scientific articles, medical ethics guidelines, films, and ethnographies. We will explore several case studies where the use of DNA markers (either as proof of heritage or disease risk) has spawned cultural movements that are biosocial in nature. nnExamples include legal and political analyses of African ancestry testing as ¿evidence¿ in slavery reparations cases, debates on whether Black Freedman should be allowed into the Cherokee and Seminole Nations, considerations on whether people with genetic links to Jewish groups should have a right of return to Israel, close readings of The U.S. Food and Drug Administration¿s crackdown on personal genomics testing companies (such as 23andMe), examinations of genetic identity politics in health disparities funding and orphan disease research, inquiries into new social movements organized around gene-based definitions of personhood, and civil liberties concerns about genetic ¿familial searching¿ in forensic databases that disproportionately target specific minority groups as criminal suspects. nnStudents will engage in a short observational ¿pilot¿ ethnographic project that allows them to further explore issues from the course for their final paper.

Last offered: Winter 2014

ANTHRO 132:Religion and Politics in the Muslim World

This course provides an ethnographic examination of religion and politics in the Muslim world. What is the role of Islam in the political life of modern Muslim societies? Conversely, how do modern political powers shape and constrain the terms of religious life? This course takes an anthropological perspective on the study of Islam: our investigations will not focus on the origins of scriptures and doctrines but rather on the use of religious texts and signs in social context and on the political significance of ritual and bodily practices. A major aim of the course is provide students with analytical resources for thinking critically about the history and politics of modern Muslim societies, with a particular focus on issues of religious authority, gender and sexuality, and the politics of secularism.

Last offered: Autumn 2018
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-ED, WAY-SI

ANTHRO 132B:Islam Law in Muslim and Non-Muslim Societies

In this course, students will engage with scholarly material that demonstrates the multiple and varying ways in which Islam is invoked as a legal discourse in Muslim and Non- Muslim societies. In this course, we look at Islam not merely as being in the domain of legislation and adjudication, but as a cultural object; an important signifier in politics, for the state to enforce itself, as well as a technology for people¿s strategic use. The point of this course is therefore to consider how Islam operates in legal contexts as a 1) discourse of power and of strategy (at personal and political levels) and 2) as a discourse of identity that concerns issues of ethics, rights, gender, kinship, class and nation.

Last offered: Winter 2015

ANTHRO 132C:Technology and Inequality (CSRE 132C)

In this advanced interdisciplinary seminar we will examine the ways that technologies aimed to make human lives better (healthier, freer, more connected, and informed) often also harbor the potential to exacerbate social inequalities. Drawing from readings in the social sciences on power and ethics, we will pay special attention to issues of wealth, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, globalization and humanitarianism.

Last offered: Spring 2019

ANTHRO 132D:Thinking Technology: Anthropological Perspectives

What role does technology play in society, and vice-versa? This course considers the question from an anthropological perspective, pairing different conceptual models of social-technical relations (Social Constructivism, Actor-Network Theory, Cyborg Anthropology) with real world examples. Through such technologies as factory machines, trains, Bakelite, slot machines, computers, missiles, and PET scanners, students will gain insights both on how the social suffuses the mundane objects around us, and how technologies have radically redefined how we see the world.

What is masculinity? How are masculinities invested with power and meaning in cultural contexts? How is anthropological attention to them informed by and extending inquiry across the academy in spheres such as culture studies, political theory, gender studies, history, and science and technology studies? Limited enrollment.

Last offered: Spring 2019
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-ED, WAY-SI

ANTHRO 133A:Anthropology of the Middle East (CSRE 133A)

This course examines social, political, and religious dimensions of various Middle Eastern societies. Key topics include the development of the modern nation-state, the Islamic revival, human rights, and discourses of democracy. Course materials include ethnographic studies, novels, and films, which provide a rich contextualization of social life and cultural politics in the region.